“What?!” you likely uttered when reading the headline.  “Three hundred children died from cough syrup?  Is this another Marge conspiracy theory?”  Well, no, it’s not. You likely hadn’t heard about the story because the 300 dead children were primarily Africans, and American media–with National Zero unfortunately included–typically only report on African news when the US bombs something or pop musicians release a charity song.  Given that Africa has twice the population of North America, maybe we should pay more attention.

It’s true:  back in October, the World Health Organization announced that cough syrup distributed in many African and Asian nations was contaminated with diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, chemicals dangerous to humans that can be fatal if ingested, particularly to children.  The Food and Drug Administration, a federal agency Republicans target for elimination in their campaign of fear and hate under the guise of “small government” advocacy, noted that none of the contaminated cough syrup has made it into the United States thanks to our socialist safety regulations; however, the FDA warns to check the manufacture location for cough medicine to make sure it was sold in the United States and not use products imported from foreign sources, particularly over internet sales.

According to CBS News, the FDA has joined the effort to trace the cause of the contamination, the distribution of the contaminated products, and potential remedies for the impacted people.  The products were sold under the brand names Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, was Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, a company in Haryana, India that provides generic products for companies around the world, including the US.